The Sand Dragon
by PenguinBuddy
Summary: James and Eva spend the afternoon at the seaside. Companion oneshot to "Game On."


Disclaimer: The characters are the property of the amazingly talented J.K Rowling. I'm only borrowing the characters and world that she has so brilliantly created.

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_**The Sand Dragon**_

_A companion oneshot to Game On_

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"That doesn't look anything like a dragon."

James looked up at his girlfriend and forced a mock scowl. "Sure it does. You're just not using your imagination."

Eva crossed her arms over her chest and cocked her head to the side as she again regarded his feeble attempts at creating a Hungarian Horntail out of sand. Quite frankly, she had a point. It didn't look much like a dragon at all. The Muggle children working several feet away were doing much better at making something that looked like a castle.

"Nope, still doesn't look like a dragon," she pronounced after a few moments of deliberation.

He smirked knowingly. "And I suppose _your_ stand sculpture Quidditch stadium is perfect?"

Eva pretended to be affronted, but she wasn't doing a very good job of it. The corners of her mouth were twitching upwards as she tried to hold back a smile. He loved it when she did that.

"_That,"_ she said, pointing indignantly at the crumbling oval of damp sand complete with field markings, "is a perfect rendering of the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch."

As she said it, Eva couldn't hold back her laughter any longer. James joined in as the sandy version of the Gryffindor stands caved in, scattering damp sand back onto the ground.

"If only we could use ma- I mean, _you-know-what_ – this would be much easier," Eva lamented, settling down beside him.

He had a momentary vision of a scale model Hungarian Horntail zooming around the beach scaring the Muggles and nearly laughed.

"Somehow I think the Muggles would catch on," he commented, as he added another spike to the dragon's tail.

There. Now it looked more like a dragon, if you squinted a bit.

"You know what would be really fun?" Eva asked, her voice filled with longing.

James was about to reply with a rather tongue-in-cheek answer, when he turned to face Eva and his response died in this throat. Eva was leaning back on her hands while she stared out at the bright blue of the sea. Her hair was tied back, but blowing slightly in the wind, and tickling the sun-kissed skin of her shoulders and back. He suddenly had a very strong urge to lean over and move her hair aside and kiss her shoulder.

"This is the part where you're supposed to ask _wha_t would be fun," Eva's voice broke though his thoughts.

"Er…" He stammered as he realized Eva had caught him staring rather openly at her. I mean, they _were_ dating and he wasn't as though he was leering or anything…he just appreciated his girlfriend's trim, athletic figure in a bathing suit. He was only human, after all.

Eva smiled widely, a pleased expression covering her face. He felt his own face color a bit.

"What were you…ah, thinking?" he asked, finally managing to form a proper sentence.

"Wouldn't it be fun to ride a broomstick here at the seaside?" Her face was lit up with excitement at the mere idea.

"It would," he admitted. "Too bad the International Statute of Secrecy wouldn't allow it. I don't fancy being brought up in front of the Wizengamot."

He imaged what it would feel like to do a Wronksi Feint over the waves and to feel the salty air on his skin.

"Yeah," she replied wistfully. "But it's a nice idea. Still, this has been fun."

James smiled, relieved that she had enjoyed herself. Eva had never been to the Muggle seashore before, and he thought it would be a fun, relaxing day-trip for them. "I'm glad you liked the seaside."

"It was stress relieving. No responsibilities, no training, no cooking, no cleaning the flat….just you and me and a peaceful day."

"Except for that seagull that stole my sandwich," James pointed out. He made a face as he remembered that way the raggedy white bird had swooped down while they were eating and stolen a good quarter of his ham and brie.

Eva giggled. "How about some ice cream, then, to make up for it?" she suggested.

"I could be enticed into ice cream," he agreed, already debating which flavor to get. What flavors did Muggles have, anyway? Maybe he'd stick with chocolate. That was always a safe bet.

As he stood up, one of the Muggle children wandered over to their sand creations and peered closely at them.

"Wow, cool dragon!" the boy told James, flashing him a grin that featured a missing front tooth.

"Cheers, mate," James replied, then turned to Eva and shot her a triumphant smirk.

"See? Other people can tell it's supposed to be a dragon."

**The End**

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**Thank you for reading! **Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Favorite quotes? I'd love to hear what you thought!

And thanks to blue-and-gold for beta work and to AliceMitch09 for providing me with the story prompt on tumblr!


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